- Title: SPAIN: Pro and anti-bullfighting activists gather in Barcelona ahead of ban vote
- Date: 29th July 2010
- Summary: GIRL SHOUTING "NO MORE TORTURE" WOMAN BLOWING WHISTLE VARIOUS OF DEMONSTRATORS AGAINST BULLFIGHT GATHERED OUTSIDE BUILDING SIGN WHICH READS "BULLS YES, BULLFIGHTERS NO" (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LLUIS VILLACORTA, PROTESTER, SAYING: "Unfortunately politicians here have a double morality. They say "no" to bullfights, but yes to the fire bulls which is another type of torture
- Embargoed: 13th August 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Spain
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAA0MENIFZTIGOZEIQ7HHNACPJM
- Story Text: Demonstrators in favour and against bullfighting gather outside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona ahead of a vote which could decide a region-wide ban.
The atmosphere heated up on Wednesday (July 28), as demonstrators gathered outside the Catalonia parliament in Barcelona ahead of a vote which could ban bullfighting across the Spanish region.
Catalonia could become the first mainland Spanish region to ban bullfighting in a local parliamentary vote that has pitted animal rights activists against fans of the centuries-old national symbol.
The bill went to Parliament after 180,000 Catalans signed a petition circulated by anti-bullfighting group Prou! (In English: "Enough"), who say bullfights are cruelty to animals.
However, activists say that even if the vote bans bullfights, the law doesn't go far enough because the region still retains the "Fire Bull Festival" where a bull has balls of flammable material attached to its horns which are later lit.
"Unfortunately politicians here have a double morality. They say "no" to bullfights, but yes to the fire bulls which is another type of torture. They want to exclude this with the pretext that it is cultural. Just because there are a lot of votes there. But in any case we will keep on fighting until the last day," said Lluis Villacorta, an animal rights activists who stood naked and tipped red paint all over himself outside parliament.
In December the parliament voted 67 for and 59 against to take the citizens' petition under consideration, and the final vote on Wednesday is expected to echo that outcome as lawmakers of all stripes, from Socialists to conservatives from the nationalist CiU party, support the ban.
The debate in the Catalan parliament to put a stop to what Spaniards call the "corrida" has been seen by some Spanish nationalists as nothing more than provocation from a region where many want independence from Spain.
Commentators and lawmakers deny that the anti-bullfight movement has to do with separatist moves in Catalonia.
Famed bullfighter, Serafin Marin attended the parliament and said he didn't think his profession was cruel but an art.
"For me it's not a cruel show. Completely the opposite. It's a show that creates art. Where you get feelings and a fight between a bull and person. Where the person or the bull can lose their life," said Serafin.
In the bullring, the torero and his team use capes, lances and darts to master the bull and then eventually kill it with a sword in a highly-ritualised performance.
The bullfight was made illegal in Spain's Canary Islands in 1991.
Under the ban, which would come into effect in 2012, the last active bullring in Catalonia's capital, Barcelona, would shut down as would the remaining few elsewhere in the region.
Opponents say bullfighting involves gratuitous animal suffering that has no place in a modern society.
But supporters say the torero's face-off with the enraged bull celebrates an emotional reality at the heart of the Spanish character, celebrated in art by the likes of painter Pablo Picasso and poet Federico Garcia Lorca.
Those in favour of bullfighting say it creates thousands of jobs and is central to the tourist industry. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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